Third Extrasolar War
The Third Extrasolar War, abbreviated as T.E.W. was a major conflict between the Helghast Empire, C.C.C. and the I.W.C. Third Extrasolar War: May 17th 2410 - May 10th, 2416 A simple mercenary band invariably sends the galaxy back into open warfare. Helghast Assault the Centaurian Border: May 17th, 2410 The Helghast assemble a huge fleet of starships and troop carriers at the Centaurian Border, alongside 10 of their Visari Class Battlecruisers, as well as many other ships commanded by vengeful outer colonists. Despite the huge fleet the Helghast have amassed, they nonetheless underestimate their enemy. The Helghast Fleet move through the Draco System, a solar system located inside of the Centaurian Border without habitable planets. Unbeknownst to the Helghast Fleet, the C.C.C. had created the Ghost Class Prowler, a stealth ship using Ghost Cloak technology on a much wider scale, and has the ability to bend light so it can blend in to its surroundings. One of these such Prowlers, known as the Stealthful, managed to warn the C.C.C. fleet of the enemy presence while patrolling the Draco System. The CCC fleet intercepted the Helghast fleet at the gas giant, Veronus, quickly jumping out of hyperspace and destroying a dozen Helghast frigates before they had any idea what was going on. The Helghast fleet were slow to react, and many Helghast ships were badly damaged. The Helghast ships though, soon retaliated, keeping the defenseless troop carriers behind their battlecruisers and frigates. Despite this, the Helghast still took far more casualties than the C.C.C. did. In fact, while the fleet was jumping into hyperspace, the Helghast discovered that the C.C.C. Fleet managed to discover how to jump from both sides of a ship and in less time, with the Helghast only managing to pick off one ship before they jumped into hyperspace. Eventually, the C.C.C. fleet withdrew to its defenses, having struck a critical blow against the Helghast Fleet. The Helghast now realize that their adversary was more of a threat than they had originally thought, and begin creating new strategies to fight their technologically superior enemy. C.C.C. Invasion of Gyre: November 3rd, 2410 With the Helghast pushed back, the C.C.C. decides to maintain the initiative, and makes a sudden and aggressive push towards Gyre, taking the still-mobilizing Empire off-guard. Several fierce battles across space take heavy casualties on both sides, but the Empire's patrol fleets are slow to react to the advanced stealth technology the CCC have at their dispoal, and are unable to route the invasion force as a result. Before the year's end, C.C.C. troops make landfall on Gyre. On the ground, however, the C.C.C. find their technological edge to be matched with the sheer willpower, and incredibly advanced training of the Helghast ground forces. The belligerents become spread out acroos the islands, fighting on dozens of different fronts and wreaking horrific destruction across the planet. Despite fierce resistance, the C.C.C. make very slow, but inevitable progress across the planet, forcing the Empire to initiate a Najenmik Hunt if they wish to hold the world. Najenmik Hunt initiated: 2411 In order to counter the superior technology the C.C.C. has at its' disposal, and halt the initiative of the C.C.C. advance on Gyre, Vikar Detrick and his men are sent by Visari to infiltrate the C.C.C. and assassinate Generals, Admirals, Governer's and CEO's that are deemed vital to the enemy war effort. Over a roughly four month period, the entirety of the Najenmik successfully infiltrate the C.C.C., under the guises of refugees, political opponents and military turncoats. Once within, they establish safehouses and small, undetectable bases throughout the territory, with at least one on every major world and several in large uninhabited asteroids. The Najenmik also waste no time recruiting various insurgency groups, crime syndicates and mercenary bands as an underworld chain of supply and intel, as well as distributing money and weapons throughout CCC space to these ne'er-do-well forces, slowly undermining the nations' wartime capabilities. Once a steady flow of money and intel are established, the Najenmik begin their Hunt in earnest. Experienced and disciplined Generals disappear without any trace, pro-war politicians are slandered and humiliated across the nation, and rich, powerful corporate leaders that supply vital materials to the CCC military are suddenly and violently killed. All the while, Imperial scouts and fleets on the border engage the CCC Navy, while the war on Gyre sees more and more Helghast troops arriving daily, to distract the nation and keep them from seeing what's actually happening. Defensive Countermeasures: 2412 After the C.C.C. found a notable decline in high ranking soldiers, due to "unfortunate accidents" and mysterious disappearances, the C.C.C. create a counter intelligence and security agency, known as the Conjoined Colonies Security and Counter-Intelligence Agency (CCSCIA), whose aim is to eliminate or capture Najenmik agents within their territory and find out and catch enemy spies. It consists of handpicked C.C.C. spies that have completed many successful missions in the Helghast Empire during the Cold War. Within months of its creation, over a dozen Najenmik soldiers are captured or killed, including one attempting to assassinate the same Admiral who won the battle at the Centaurian Border. The CCSCIA and Najenmik began fighting a whole new war, that would be later known to history as the "Shadow Wars", behind the front lines of the Third Extrasolar War. Assassination of the C.C.C. Inner Cabinet: March 31st, 2413 After conquering nearly half of Gyre, the Confederation decides to convene a meeting of its' top military, political and corporate members to discuss the war effort, feeling secure due to the lower presence of Najenmik operatives within their territory, thanks to the CCSCIA. The meeting takes place on the C.C.C. capital world of Morrigan. As the meeting gets underway however, Jason Monroe, the CEO of the Monroe Weapons Combine rises from his seat and calmly walks before his fellows, standing directly in the center of the small room. As he watches the inner cabinet, his visual appearance flickers and dissipates, revealing Corde Detrick, the son of the (in)famous Najenmik Overseer, standing before them. Before anyone manages to react, Corde tosses a Najenmik Razorhound grenade directly into the center of the meeting place, unleashing a 360 degree cloud of razor sharp steel fragments into the air with enough force to shatter bones that kill the entire inner cabinet instantly. Quickly dawning the guise of a severely wounded Jason, he evades C.C.C. Security forces and CCSCIA agents who descend upon the assassination site, before slinking off to his personal shuttle and disappears back into Helghan territory overnight. Corde Detrick goes rogue: October 5th, 2413 After several successful missions within C.C.C. territory, Corde is given a directive to release an Irradiated Petrusite Warhead within the Capital city of Morrigan, terrorizing the populace and killing millions of civilians. Corde promptly rejects these orders, cutting his communications with the Empire and effectively betraying the Empire. Soon afterwards, sightings of Corde across the known galaxy crop up, often with him approaching a select handful of highly skilled operators from all nations within known space. As of this moment, his true intentions are unknown. Helghast re-take Gyre, January 2nd, 2413 - Setember 4th, 2414 With the losses of so many leaders within their nation, the military of the C.C.C. finds itself stalled in their war on Gyre, plagued by indecision from the local commanders. Taking advantage of the situation, the Empire discreetly sends brand new ships with cutting edge shielding technology integrated in their design, along with the Empires' most veteran naval officers across the front towards the Gyre warzone, determined to see the world fully back in Imperial hands. The energy shielding on the ships prove vital in the Imperial assault, with the C.C.C. unable to adapt effective countermeasure during the battle. The fleet, while putting up a strong fight and taking many unshielded helghast warships with them, is encircled and whittled away by the helghast navy. Once in control of Gyres' orbit, the fleet launches dozens of invasion forces throughout the back flanks of the enemy ground troops, who are unable to halt the seemingly endless flow of imperial combatants. On September 4th, the C.C.C. general issues an unconditional surrender to the Helghast, effectively ending the war on Gyre. Helghast conquest of the Kirikhan System: November 24th, 2414 After nearly losing Gyre, and a prolonged game of cat and mouse between the Najenmik and CCSCIA, a large amount of the CCC leadership is either dead or scattered across their territory for their own protection. The Empire launches a massive assault against the C.C.C., deploying their state of the art ships in the attack on the border system of the CCC's Alpha Sector, Kirikhan. As the Najenmik simultaneously raid and destroy the CCSCIA HQ on Veritan, the most populous planet in the Kirikhan System, a massive fleet of Helghast warships pour into the system, covered in new, experimental energy shielding technology, catching the CCC defenders off-guard. As the fleet tears through CCC space, Najenmik forces initiate surgical strikes across the systems worlds, crippling its already limited leadership, feeding misinformation to outside CCC forces and paralyzing its' ground forces capabilities. After a few days of moderate fighting, the entire system falls to the Empire, giving them access to large amounts of CCC technology and tactical information within this Sector. Operation: Daybreak Commences, December 3rd, 2414 Unbeknownst to the galaxy at large, Corde and his newly formed team known as the Wolfpack launch what will one day be known as Operation: Daybreak, a high risk mission dedicated to ending the war before it consumes the entire galaxy. Mars betrays the C.C.C.: January 3rd, 2415 As the war takes a turn in the Empires' favor, and Imperial recon ships are spotted more and more frequently within the Sol System, the Martian Council decides to open their own, independent line of negotiation with Empress Visari. After a few weeks, the Sol System is peacefully annexed by the Empire as the Sol Protectorate. The Empire is given free reign to colonize, mine resources and collect taxes from the former UCN Cradle, in exchange for allowing Mars to retain most of its own freedoms and law-making abilities, be established as the new official capital of the Protectorate, and to remain a bastion of humanity, without any Evolution Camps being created on their world. While under Imperial control, Mars was withdrawn from the conflict as a military combatant. Instead, the Martians of their own volition returned to the frontlines as a massive corps of medics, doctors and psychiatrists, establishing a network of field hospitals and bases across the entirety of the Alexandrian front. Martian soldiers defend these forts and police civilians into treatment or evacuation centers. Mars serves any and all wounded they came across, Imperial or Confederate, soldier or civilian. Given the nature of their work, all Martians were designated as medics and forbidden from being fired upon by any major powers, but in the destructive chaos of the Third Extrasolar war the Martians still suffer terrible losses, with up to 180,000,000 personnel will be lost by Mars, a significant number to the dramatically smaller population. The IWC's "Proactive Defense" begins, September 4th 2415 With the Empire cutting deep into Confederacy territory, the C.C.C. resorts to leaning on the neighboring Coalition for resources and resupply points, hidden from the Empire. While initially supportive, as the IWC has no illusions in regards to the inevitable if the Helghast succeed in conquering the C.C.C., tensions soon arise. the Coalition becomes very weary of the monetary and material losses they are suffering in a war they are not involved in. Also, they quickly grow just as untrusting and paranoid towards the C.C.C. as they are towards the Empire once the former starts littering their territory with propaganda and attempts to bring border worlds rich in resources into the Confederate fold. This, coupled with an Imperial force landing on one of their worlds and, "requesting" volunteers to assist in the ongoing invasion of the Confederacy, prompt the IWC to expel both nations out of their borders, violently. Soon afterwards, Coalition troops are deployed into the flank territories of both nations, desiring to destroy the possibility of reprisal while the Empire and Confederacy are still mostly focused on each other. Battle for the Hydra system: September 1st 2415 - May 5th, 2416 Just days before the IWC's entry into the war, the Helghast begin a new offensive campaign within the Confederacy's territory, upon the strategically vital Hydra system. After suffering heavy casualties in the initial battles with the Confederate Navy due to misinformation on the defending forces numbers, a surprise boon is granted to the Empire as several CCC admirals across the system are killed by unknown assailants. After a costly and time consuming space battle, the Helghast successfully make landfall on several colonies within the system, with most the their forces being centered on the Confederate regional capital world of Alexandria. The CCC rush enormous amounts of troops, ships and materiel to the system for defense, as the system serves as a gateway to the rest of Confederacy territory. At the same time, the IWC uses the sudden concentration of enemy forces as an opportunity to gain a rapid tactical advantage against both parties, and send a massive invasion force towards the system as well. IWC forces manage to reach the system quickly thanks to limited resistance from either party on the path to Hydra, but within the system itself they find themselves temporarily unable to make landfall on the main battlefield of Alexandria due to the massive troop and fleet actions swarming across the planet by both the Empire and Confederacy. To alleviate this the Coalition makes an unexpected invasion on the as of yet untouched twin moons of Alexandria, successfully taking them both within a few weeks. From here they send raiding forces across the system and occasionally against the ground forces of both other belligerent nations, waiting for their opportunity to make landfall on the world. The Darkest Dawn: January 23rd - May 5th, 2416 As the frigid Alexandrian winter settles in, a series of devastating tragedies are wrought upon all sides of the war. Imperial forces and positions are annihilated by a series of inner sabatoge operations, with weapons of mass destruction being unleashed across the entirety of their lines on Vostok. Confederate leaders are butchered within their final fortress just hours before it melts down, and all sides lose unprecedented numbers during a multi-sided battle over the twin moons of the world. As the radioactive clouds of petrusite choke out the sky across Vostok, the remaining Imperial legions groundside launch an all out suicidal assault across every Confederate position across the country, their sole goal to cause as much destruction and annihilation to their enemy before thye die. After months of mindless and horrific warfare, Vostok is finally rendered silent as the Empire's completely exhausted forces are forced to retreat from the stem, and the Confederate defenders are all but completely wiped out. All across the galaxy, support for the destructive war dries up and anti-war protests erupt on nearly all settled worlds across the galaxy, For the first time in years, the end of the war finally seems like an obtainable goal. But at what cost? Peace Obtained: June 2nd, 2416 With public support all but dried up and unimaginable losses mounting on both sides, the Confederacy and Empire finally agree to meet and discuss a potential end to the war. Negotiations take place within the obliterated ruins of Alexandria, helping to remind the diplomats why exactly they are there. Despite difficulty at first, a treaty is successfully drafted by the forces, thanks in large part to Martian intermediaries. the main points established within the treaty are as follows: *Imperial annexation of twenty two worlds on the Confederacy Border. *Massive Imperial reparations to the Confederacy to assist in rebuilding the shattered infrastructure and livelihood of Alexandria. *Full Martian independence, with the solar state being established as a permanently unaffiliated power to aid in intergalactic politics. *Acknowledgement of full Coalition independence and admittance of wrongdoings in various attempts to bring their capabilities into the war. *Finally, an agreement from both parties to demobilize their militaries and disarm their weapons of mass destruction. Exceptions are made to allow the Empire to maintain a sizable military for the purposes of peace-keeping and internal rebellion suppression. With the Alexandrian Treaty ratified on the second of June, the Third Extrasolar War has officially come to an end. Estimates on the death toll of the war are placed at roughly 23 billion lives lost, with nearly half of that number being non-combatants. The devastation across effected worlds is estimated, conservatively, in the quintillions and rebuilding is expected to take decades at the least. The galaxy has ended their war, and must now focus on rebuilding their shattered lives. Category:Third Extrasolar War